ISLAMABAD: PPP Senator Sherry Rehman on Sunday slammed the government for cancelling a scheduled session of the National Assembly without an official announcement and planning to promulgate two ordinances regarding election campaigning and social media.
A session of the National Assembly was scheduled for February 18 (Friday) only to be cancelled by President Dr Arif Alvi. The opposition had criticised the postponement as a move to stop PML-N President Shehbaz Sharif from avoiding his indictment in an alleged corruption case while a source had told Dawn the session was shelved since the government wanted to promulgate some ordinances.
Information Minister Fawad Chaudhry told Dawn on Saturday the government was set to promulgate an ordinance declaring defamation of people and institutions on social media a cognisable offence.
He said the drafts of the proposed legislation, including an amendment to the Elections Act 2017 allowing members of the parliament to take part in election campaigns, had already been circulated among the federal cabinet members for approval, adding that the two laws would be enforced through the promulgation of presidential ordinances.
